''Crucifixion'' is a recently discovered early-15th-century drawing of the

death of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being nailed to a cross.The instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus forming a "cruciform" or T-shaped structure. ...

attributed to

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...

or his workshop,Concerning a drawing at the exhibition The Road to van Eyck
. Flemish Art Collection. Retrieved 28 May 2017 now in the collection of the

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from its two most important donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. The museum is located a ...

.The Crucifixion of Christ ca. 1440-50 Jan van Eyck
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. Retrieved 5 April 2020 It is variously dated to the early 1430s, implying an original van Eyck likely created as a predatory drawing for his

Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych The ''Crucifixion and Last Judgement'' diptych (or ''Diptych with Calvary and Last Judgement'')Vermij et al., 362 consists of two small painted panels attributed to the Early Netherlandish painting, Early Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck, with ...

, or c. 1440, making it a pastiche by a workshop member completed after Jan's death. The only other known van Eyck drawing is the 1437 ''

Study for Cardinal Niccolò Albergati Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...

'', if ''

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

'' is considered as an unfinished painting, although there are similarities between the two; especially in its perspective, angle of the observer's point of view, and the shadings of the rock formations. The quality of draftsmanship is of the first rate, and it is perhaps the most elaborate and complex surviving drawing from the 16th century.

Description

The drawing is executed in gold and silver stylus, pen, brush and lead slate pencil.Unknown drawing from Van Eyck studio found: One of the greatest discoveries in early drawing
. Art Daily. Retrieved 28 May 2017 It is in poor condition, being covered in yellowish varnish which has damaged both the paper and drawing. The drawing is linked to the left-hand panel of the New York ''

'', which is generally, but not always, attributed to Jan; likely workshop members completed many passages on the right-hand frame. As such, the drawing is either an original preparatory study or a workshop pastiche by an associate for commercial sale. It shows a mass of people gathering around a crucifixion scene, with Christ's followers grieving in the foreground (though they are thinly described compared to the other figures), soldiers and spectators hanging around in the mid-ground and a portrayal of three crucified bodies in the upper-ground. Both works contain a number of similarly depicted and positioned figures, share the same steep perspective, with the city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

can be seen in the distance, though at a much lower angle here than in the finished diptych.

Notes

{{Van Eyck 1430s paintings 1440s paintings Drawings by Jan van Eyck Drawings of the Crucifixion of Jesus Horses in art